「屈辱的」　中国当局のコロナ対策、恣意的な強硬手段に怒る市民ら

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】公共トイレを使おうと自宅の外に出た高齢男性が、着用を義務付けられたマスクをしていなかったために警察車両に乗せられ、隔離施設に連れて行かれた――中国・河北省での出来事を映した動画は、ソーシャルメディア上で広く共有された。（写真は資料写真）
　中国では、当局の新型コロナウイルス対策をめぐり、恣意（しい）的な措置が横行していると怒りの声が高まっている。
　国内感染者が８万人を超え、死者３０００人以上を数える中、対応の遅さで批判を浴びた中国当局はここ数週間にわたり対策を強化している。だが、共産党指導部の命令を実行する地域委員会の取り組みに対し、行き過ぎだとの批判も相次ぐ。
　北京在住の女性（２９）は、市外に出掛けていたルームメートが帰宅した直後に隔離対象とされ、自宅前の共用廊下に一歩出ることすら禁止されたとＡＦＰに明かした。自宅の玄関ドアには「ここの住民は現在隔離中。監視してください」と近隣住民に呼び掛ける警告文が張られたという。「屈辱的だ」と、この女性は非難した。
　流行中心地の湖北省で、隔離中の親族３人でマージャンをしていたら感染対策要員から叱責されたという動画も、インターネット上で拡散された。互いが接近しすぎているとの理由とみられる。
　また、北京近郊に住む男性（２９）は、湖北省生まれだというだけで「６か月前から帰省していないのに」地元当局から自宅隔離措置を命じられたと語った。「彼らは上からの命令だと言い、良くない措置だと認めていた。だが、命令は命令だ」
　こうした中、電子商取引（ＥＣ）大手のアリババ（阿里巴巴）とＩＴ大手の騰訊控股（テンセント）は、多数の地方自治体と共同で、隔離の目安を表示するスマートフォンアプリを開発した。メタデータを使用し、ユーザーが隔離されるべきかを測定。ＱＲコードが緑色で表示されれば隔離の必要はないが、黄色や赤色で表示されたユーザーは隔離が必要だという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/03/10-12:22）

An elderly man in virus-hit China pops out to use a public toilet without wearing a compulsory face mask. The next thing he knows, police are ordering him into a van to be taken into quarantine.
A video of the incident in the northern province of Hebei has been widely shared on social media amid growing anger over apparently arbitrary measures aimed at stopping the deadly epidemic from spreading.
Criticised for their slow response to the virus, which emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December, chastened authorities have gone on the offensive in recent weeks, as the death toll has risen to more than 3,000 with over 80,500 infected in the country.
From locking down tens of millions of people at the epicentre of the outbreak to imposing two-week quarantines on anyone who has travelled to virus-affected provinces or countries, officials are pulling out all stops to contain the virus.
But there are growing complaints that their efforts are excessive, with neighbourhood committees -- which enforce the orders of the ruling Communist Party -- sometimes accused of going too far.
In my case, they acted in a simplistic and rude manner, Zhang, a 29-year-old woman in Beijing, told AFP.
Zhang was quarantined after her flatmate returned from another province and was banned from even setting foot in the shared corridor.
To ensure she obeyed, a notice was stuck on her front door warning neighbours this person is currently in quarantine. Please watch over them.
It's humiliating, Zhang said.
In another case shared on social media, three relatives under lockdown in the hardest-hit province of Hubei were playing mahjong when they were reprimanded by staff enforcing the prevention measures, apparently for being too close to each other.
- 'Completely absurd' -
Ge Daye was also quarantined in his home near Beijing on the orders of local officials -- not because he had travelled to a virus-hit area, but because he was born in Hubei.
I haven't been there for six months, the 29-year-old said.
They say the measure comes from above and admit themselves that it is not good. But the orders are the orders.
I understand the politicians. They don't want to bother sorting out potentially infected people from the rest, he said.
But the approach is completely absurd.
Faced with growing discontent over its handling of the health crisis, the government is taking action.
In a recent editorial, the Communist Party's mouthpiece the People's Daily warned against the arbitrary implementation of virus measures.
This will inevitably provoke resentment and opposition from the people, it said.
Beijing city officials also noted recently the existence of certain problems of abusive procedures and promised to do better.
Nearly one million returnees have had to undergo 14-day quarantine in the capital.
In collaboration with hundreds of municipalities, tech giants Alibaba and Tencent have launched mobile apps that use metadata to determine if the user should be isolated.
If a QR code shows up green, no problem. Yellow or red means the user is off to quarantine.